Twiter feuds: Kanye, J.K. Rowling, Iggy and More

Save the filters for Instagram — the final week in January 2016 has proven to be a huge one for celebrity feuds on Twitter. From album names to astrophysics, there was nothing off the table for celebrities to publicly beef about online. It’s time to take a look back at the Twitter wars that have “distracted from our creative process” this week.

Iggy Azalea Vs. Talib Kweli

Macklemore called out Iggy Azalea on “White Privilege II,” and Azalea responded on Twitter by saying “[Macklemore] shouldn’t have spent the last 3 yrs having friendly convos and taking pictures together at events etc if those were his feelings.” It seemed like that would be the end of it, but then rapper Talib Kweli weighed in, tweeting, “The fact @iggyazalea thinks Macklemore song was a diss to her, instead of actually listening, is proof of her privilege. F— Iggy Azalea.” Azalea responded saying that the song didn’t actually bother her, but Kweli didn’t believe her.

Kanye West vs. Wiz Khalifa and Amber Rose

With more than 400 million views, Kanye West’s listicle of anger directed at Wiz Khalifa is easily the top Twitter feud of the week, and of 2016 so far. Before the beef even began, Khalifa was posting critical tweets about the name of West’s new album, Waves. Khalifa took the album name to be a reference to a style of hip-hip, and accused West of not being “wavy.” But it wasn’t until Khalifa tweeted, “Hit this kk and become yourself” that West went off. He took the initials “kk” to be about his wife, Kim Kardashian West, but Khalifa defended the tweet saying it stood for a strain of marijuana. But it was too late: West’s tweets, which are now deleted (read them here), included jabs at Khalifa’s musical talent (“no one I know has ever listened to one of your albums all the way through”), his fashion sense (“I went to look at your twitter and you were wearing cool pants”), and his ex-wife and mother of his child Amber Rose (“you let a stripper trap you”). Though Khalifa didn’t respond, Rose herself stepped in to fire back at West. “Awww @kanyewest are u mad I’m not around to play in ur a–hole anymore?” she wrote, alongside the hashtag #FingersInTheBootyAssBitch.

Takeaway Quote: “maybe I couldn’t be skinny and tall but I’ll settle for being the greatest artist of all time as a consolation.”

J.K. Rowling vs. Parliament member Natalie McGarry

The Harry Potter author found herself in a back-and-forth with U.K. Parliament member Natalie McGarry on Thursday. McGarry’s tweets are now deleted (read them here), but the spat started when McGarry accused Rowling of defending “abusive misognist trolls” on Twitter, to which Rowling asked for an explanation. McGarry was referring to a tweet Rowling sent to the account @BrianSpanner1 last year saying he’s “a good man,” although the account has a history of bullying McGarry. Rowling responded that she was thanking the account for making a donation to her children’s charity Lumos, and asked McGarry to either provide proof to back her accusations or apologize. McGarry remained adamant in her tweets against the author, causing Rowling to slyly threaten a defamation lawsuit.

Takeaway Quote: “You don’t appear to understand how Twitter or defamation works. I’m going to help you out with the latter.”

.@NatalieMcGarry You don't appear to understand how Twitter or defamation works. I'm going to help you out with the latter.